This Is Why
by fokkusu94
Summary: Kuzco's back story doesn't seem quite complete with Disney. We know that he's a spoiled brat, but is there something more to it? Fluffy one-shot with an OC.


_Before Kuzco went through his llama adventure, something specific happened that added to the reasons he didn't care about anyone but himself..._

"Malina I said I was sorry," Kuzco whined behind his friend.

Malina just shook her head, and looked behind her to see the young emperor pouting. "Kuzco, I'm tired of your self-centered, egotistic ways..." Malina fumed, as she continued stomping down the path away from their school.

Kuzco groaned. "_Here we go again," _he thought.

"Yeah well, I wasn't always this selfish," Kuzco said.

"Oh really, well you certainly are terrible now." Malina replied.

Kuzco rolled his eyes. "Do you want to know what really made me this 'terrible', the whole truth?"

"What could have been so bad as to make you care about no one but yourself?" Malina snipped back.

Kuzco sighed. He knew Malina was mad about his behavior earlier. "Well if you don't want to know..."

"Wait," Malina thought a moment, "I've got a second to spare. Let me hear it."

Kuzco shook his head "Nuh-uh, you have to say please."

"Please Kuzco." Malina said; her arms folded.

"Well, if you're going to beg me." Kuzco began to walk on the path to his palace.

"This happened not too long before I met Pacha. From when I was just a kid, to, eh, my early teenage years, I was best friends with this girl named Mira. Her father was an ambassador from a nearby country, and my father was doing some business with him. One time, Mira's dad decided to bring her along and she found me outside..."

_In the early spring, a young girl about the age of six runs through a meadow filled with soft green grass. She smiles as she hears the native birds call and revels in the breeze. As she looks up, she sees a pair of chirping birds and laughs. She creeps slowly up a hill, and she sees a boy by a lake. As she runs down, she promptly says "Hi." _

_"Um, hello," the boy turns around and says back, wondering where she came from. There weren't any younger children in the palace, and she wasn't dressed like a servant. _

_"I'm Mira." She said "What's your name?" _

_"Kuzco," the boy said softly. _

_Mira giggled "Hello Kuzco, what are you doing?" _

_"I'm making ripples in the water." He replied timidly. _

_"Can I do it to?"She asked. "Sure." Kuzco said with a smile. _

"That's how we met, and then she began to come over more often. We made up more games to play on whims and we were content. Once we went a little further from the palace and I told her..."

"What? What did you tell her?"Malina said when he paused.

"We were just kids, remember that." Kuzco said. "I asked her actually. I asked her if she wanted to give me a kiss. She said yeah and we did. I mean we saw our parents do it, so we decided to try it." Kuzco smiled at the childish memory.

"Keep going." Malina urged.

"Umm..." Kuzco hesitated.

"Please?" Malina said using her silly, puppy eyes.

"Okay, Okay, I'm defeated!" Kuzco said, holding up his hands. "So anyway, afterwards we just got up and kept playing. She continued to come over a lot and I was always happy when she did. But then, one day that changed." Kuzco's face fell as he spoke.

Malina noted the change in his tone and leaned in towards him. "As Mira grew, her parents made her different. When we were tiny she would wear pants like me, but then she started wearing skirts and makeup and jewelry." Kuzco shuddered. "No offense."

"None taken" Malina replied.

"At first, I was scared that these changes had changed her, but underneath, she was the same old Mira." Kuzco got a little smile on his face from this thought.

"Well, she came over to the palace with all of her usual gab on and of course we were happy to see each other, but there was pain in her eyes. I knew that she was upset about something, but I didn't bug her about it. I figured she would tell me when she was ready. Eventually the day went on and we had fun. Different from what we used to do as kids, but fun just the same. When it was dark and the stars were out, we went by the lake where we first met. We had lain down on the grass after chasing each other practically all over the palace grounds. I looked at the stars for a while recognizing the constellations I knew. Then I looked at Mira and found her eyes on me." Kuzco began to blush again.

"Oh my gosh, did you two kiss?" Malina whispered.

"No." Kuzco said quickly. "I mean we didn't. Mira sat up then and turned toward the water, hugging her knees. I decided to ask her what was bugging her..."

_"What's the matter Mira?" Kuzco said. _

_"Kuzco..." Mira said softly. _

_"What is it?" He urged. _

_"Kuzco, I'm getting married."_

"Of course, I couldn't believe it. I was mad and sad and irritated all at the same time." Kuzco said heatedly. He stopped, looked at Malina, and saw how she was sympathetic and so eager to hear more. He decided not to tell her the rest. "She left, got married, and I never saw her again. The End!"

Malina's mouth gaped as they entered the palace. "What, that's it?" Malina said.

"Yes, Malina" Kuzco replied.

"Didn't you care what happened to her, or who she got married to?"

"Nope," Kuzco said as he flipped onto a nearby couch and put his arms behind his head. "Not one bit."

Malina could tell he was lying, but something in his tone told her she wouldn't get any more out of him. She was careful not to show how peeved she was.

"Goodbye Kuzco," She said. Malina turned around and walked out of the room.

A little while after she left, Kuzco took out an old piece of parchment from inside his shirt and remembered the part he didn't tell Malina.

_"What? NO! You can't be getting married!" Kuzco said as he sat up. _

_"It's true Kuzco," Mira said softly as she stood._

_"Why?" Kuzco practically shouted as he stood up as well. _

_"My father chose to do it. He said it was good for the empire." _

_Mira was trembling, but Kuzco didn't care. "Why don't you get in there and tell your father no? Why are you just letting him throw your life away to some stranger like this?" Kuzco shouted. _

_"It's not like I have a choice!" Mira shouted back, bursting into tears. _

_Kuzco stopped short in his tracks. Mira had never cried in his presence before. "Mira," Kuzco started. "Mira, I'm sorry. Please don't get married." He sighed "Mira, I, I lo-" _

_"Stop!" She shouted as she whirled around to face him. "Don't say it. It will only make this harder!" Mira sobbed as she put his hands on his chest as if to keep him and his words away from her. _

_"But Mira, I do... I really do," Kuzco said. _

_Mira forgot about trying to hold him away as she began to sob into his chest. "Kuzco...Kuzco," _

_Kuzco put his hands under her chin and slowly brought Mira's lips to his. Tears still streaming down her face, Mira threw her arms around Kuzco's neck as he hugged her closer to him. Kuzco felt a deep joy begin to well up inside of him and spill from his heart as Mira's cheeks warmed with a happy blush. The kiss began to escalate as they both felt the comfort of each other's arms._

_ When Kuzco's tongue asked for entrance into her mouth and she opened in response, Mira came back to reality. _

_"What am I doing?" Mira thought. _

_"No," Mira said as she pushed Kuzco away gently but firmly to turn around from him and hug herself. _

_"Mira..." Kuzco whispered again. Kuzco turned her chin and kissed her once more. It took all of Mira's strength not to kiss him back, to not throw her arms around him once more, and to forget that she was being forced from him. _

_"No, I can't. I'm sorry." Mira turned and ran. Kuzco watched her go, feeling his heart go with her. _

One single, lonely tear, with no more following, came down Kuzco's face and splashed onto the painted picture of the girl Kuzco had and still loved. He went out to the lake where he first met her, again.

Malina found him on her way back to the palace to get a book she had forgotten. She walked down the hill, sat down beside him and put her arm around his shoulders.

She sighed "There was more to that story then you were letting on wasn't there?" Kuzco nodded, emotionless, eyes dry. The two of them sat there staring across the giant lake that was really a sea.

_Mira sighed._

_"What is it darling?" the emperor asked. _

_"Oh nothing, just looking at the water," she replied. _

_"Come along with me?" he asked. _

_Mira looked back at the sea. "Yes, husband." Mira stood and took his arm. She continued to wonder whether her love was looking across too._


End file.
